Samsung Galaxy S III vs. HTC One X: Specs Compared

Not sure if you should pull the trigger on the HTC One X or wait it out for the Samsung Galaxy S III? We compare specs for each phone to help you decide.

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Are four cores better than two? That's one of the questions to ask yourself, now that Samsung has announced its long-awaited, quad-core Galaxy S III smartphone. The Galaxy S III is a powerful, great-looking phone, no doubt, but how does it compare to the current king of the Android crop, the HTC One X for AT&T? We've compiled specs for each phone in the table below to find out.

The first thing to keep in mind is that the specs announced for the Galaxy S III aren't necessarily specs for the device we'll be getting when the phone makes its way over to the U.S. this summer; these are specs for the European version. However, much like the initial release of last year's Galaxy S II overseas, it's a good indication of what we can expect.

So taking these specs at face value, which phone is better? Four cores or not, the answer isn't as clear as you might think.

Let's start with the displays. The HTC One X has a gorgeous, 4.7-inch Super LCD 2, 1280-by-720 display. That works out to 316 pixels per inch. It's kind of huge, but the Galaxy S III is even larger, with a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display with the same 1280-by-720 resolution (and 306 pixels per inch, by extension). We'll need to see them next to one in another in person to make a judgment, but on paper, they're pretty darn similar.

Size-wise, we're at another stalemate. The Galaxy S III measures 5.4 by 2.8 by 0.3 inches (HWD) to the HTC One X's 5.3 by 2.8 by 0.4 (HWD). So the One X is a touch thicker, but it's also lighter, at 4.6 ounces compared to the Galaxy S III, which weighs 4.7 ounces. The difference is negligible, and both phones look sleek and beautiful, so you'll probably be happy to carry either one, at least from an aesthetic point of view.

The biggest difference between these two titans is the processor. The HTC One is powered by a dual-core, 1.5-GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4. We've tested it, and it's screaming fast. It's 15 percent faster than the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket, and 25 percent faster than the HTC Vivid, which are both speedy phones in their own right. But with a quad-core, 1.4-GHz Samsung Exynos processor, you'd automatically think the Galaxy S III will be more powerful by default. That may indeed be the case, but until we get a chance to benchmark the phone, this one is still a draw. In testing Qualcomm's S4 chip back in February, for instance, PCMag's Sascha Segan discovered that it performed comparably to Nvidia's quad-core, 1.2-GHz Tegra 3 processor. Four cores may be better than two, but the jury's still out.

One way in which Samsung's latest Galaxy definitely has the One X beat is in storage capacity. The One X offers just one option: 16GB of internal storage, with no microSD card slot for expandable memory. The Galaxy S III, on the other hand, will come in either 16 or 32GB flavors, with a 64GB version to come shortly thereafter. Not only that, but the phone will also include a microSD card slot, which accepts cards up to 64GB. The math is easy. If you buy a 64GB phone and snap in an additional 64GB microSD card, it gives you a whopping 128GB of storage, which is much more than any other phone on the market is capable of holding. So if your main priority is to transport tons of data, the Galaxy S III will be the phone to beat.

Both HTC and Samsung are making a lot of noise about cameras. From a hardware perspective, both phones feature 8-megapixel, rear-facing cameras that can capture 1080p video. The One X has a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video chat, while the Galaxy S III is packing 1.9 megapixels. Since it's basically an even match, what it comes down to are the special features. The HTC One X allows you to capture video and pictures at the same time, which is helpful for grabbing a great shot from a good video. It also features continuous shooting, which allows you to hold down the shutter button and continue to take photos until you let go. Samsung, meanwhile, claims the Galaxy S III features a zero-lag shutter speed that lets you capture photos instantly. Burst shot captures 20 continuous photos, and a best photo feature automatically selects the best of eight photographs. So with either phone you're sure to get a great camera experience.

Everything else is also stacked up pretty evenly. Both phones are running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). The One X features HTC's Sense 4 UI overlay, while the Galaxy S III includes Samsung's TouchWiz. They're both pretty nice, so it's really a matter of preference. Both phones can connect to your television via DLNA or MHL, and both phones include support for mobile payments through NFC. The One X has an 1800 mAh battery, while the Galaxy S III is packing 2100 mAh, so you may get a little more juice out of the Galaxy S III.

If you want a new phone right now, the decision is easy. The HTC One X is already available from AT&T, while the Galaxy S III won't be available in the U.S. until some point "this summer." If you can hold out until then, we'll be putting the Galaxy S III through its paces as soon as we can get our hands on it. While it looks to be a pretty close fight, it's sure to be an interesting one, so you may want to wait it out.

Alex Colon is the managing editor of PCMag's consumer electronics team. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Writing and Literature from Pace University and got his start editing books before deciding technology would probably be a lot more fun.
Though he does the majority of his reading and writing on various digital displays, Alex still loves to sit down and read a good, old-fashioned, paper and ink book in his free time. (Not that there’s anything wrong with ebook readers.)
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